Irish public sector review to feed into pension policy

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IRELAND - A review of public service pensions conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General, expected to be released by the government shortly, will feed into a range of "possible initiatives" relating to public sector pensions.

The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General was submitted to the Minister of Finance at the end of August and focuses on the pensions of 300,000 staff and 100,000 pensioners in the public service, excluding local authority workers but including the police, health sector, civil service and teachers.

Following its submission to the government, the minister of finance has three months in which to publish the report before the Dáil Éireann (Lower House of Parliament), although it is expected the findings will be published shortly after the Oireachtas returns from the summer recess next week.

The report's contents are expected to include a figure for the accrued liability of the relevant public service staff and dependants at the end of last year, alongside details of the cost of providing benefits to each sector, administration, funding and accounting arrangements and pension cash flows fro the next 50 years.

A spokesman from the department of finance said: "Public service pensions are a significant part of public spending and they're clearly a very important part of employment terms and conditions."

"The government is considering pensions policy, as it affects all employees and the public service, in the context of the forthcoming White Paper or Framework Document."

"The Green Paper on pensions made it quite clear the government will be looking at a number of possible initiatives in relation to public service pensions. The Government will also be taking account of the comments on pensions made in the recent Special Group (McCarthy) Report."

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